For a long time, Google has dominated the scene with its AdWords platform, commanding the lion’s share of ad spend and audience reach. However, there’s another player in town that savvy campaign managers are now turning to: Bing Ads. And when it comes to harnessing the true potential of advertising on Bing, MatchCraft emerges as a powerful ally.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the significance of Bing in the advertising industry, the advantages of partnering with MatchCraft for Bing Ads, success stories from real partners, and hand-picked tips for maximizing your Bing advertising opportunities.
Bing’s Significance in the Advertising Industry
While Google undoubtedly reigns supreme, Bing (powered by Microsoft) has been steadily carving out its own niche. Boasting a substantial user base, Bing captures a significant portion of the search market share, making it a compelling platform for advertisers. Moreover, Bing often attracts an audience that differs from Google’s user base, offering advertisers access to a unique set of potential customers. This makes the Bing Ads platform a valuable addition to any comprehensive digital advertising strategy.
Leveraging Bing Ads through the MatchCraft Platform
MatchCraft’s integration with Bing Ads opens up a world of possibilities for advertisers looking to extend their reach beyond Google. One of the standout advantages of utilizing MatchCraft’s platform is the streamlined and intuitive interface it offers. Advertisers can manage their Bing Ads campaigns alongside other digital advertising efforts seamlessly, streamlining the process of managing a portfolio of campaigns.
Related Topics:
Automate Google and Bing Ads with Google Connect | MatchCraft
Success Stories with Bing Advertising
The numbers don’t lie—let’s look at two instances where MatchCrafts’s partnership with Bing produced some noteworthy results:
Local Web
Local Web, a digital agency based in Milan, Italy, focuses on helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) find and convert customers. Their CEO aimed to grow the agency—and quickly. When they first joined forces with MatchCraft in 2017, Local Web faced a challenge—they spent too much time setting up and managing digital media campaigns, leaving them with limited time to engage meaningfully with their clients. Their goal was to offer more personalized services to their partners while allowing their team to focus on nurturing existing businesses and establishing new partnerships.
Over the past two and a half years of using MatchCraft’s platform, Local Web has experienced the tangible benefits of this top-notch marketing technology. The platform not only saved them a significant amount of time when setting up campaigns but also enabled them to efficiently expand their operations.
By utilizing MatchCraft for paid search and display campaigns, Local Web has improved its ability to measure and report on Return on Investment (ROI) for its SMB clients. Armed with valuable data and boosted confidence, they decided to explore various advertising avenues, including Facebook, Instagram Social Ads, Display Ads, Shopping Ads, and paid search on Bing. By delivering tangible results and increasing ROI, Local Web was able to grow its clients’ budgets and diversify its campaigns into display, social, and paid search.
By leveraging MatchCraft’s tools and freeing up account managers to build strategic relationships, they achieved impressive growth. Their monthly media spend increased by over 134%, and they more than doubled the number of campaigns they manage. This partnership also saved them valuable time, allowing them to focus on nurturing existing clients and acquiring new ones.
Local Web effectively utilizes the campaign management tools in the MatchCraft platform, delivering efficient and successful campaigns to their advertisers. In just two years, their click-through rate (CTR) surged by more than 200%.
Read the full case study: MatchCraft’s Platform Enables Growth for Local Web [PDF]
A Managed Service Client
A well-known client who offers managed services faced some tough challenges when it came to promoting their clients’ businesses without spending too much money. They realized they needed a tool to help them manage their ad campaigns and figure out the best search engine to do the job. They really wanted to make sure the cost of getting each potential customer (known as cost-per-lead or CPL) was reasonable.
Challenges they faced included:
- Expensive Ads: Google, the most popular search engine, charged a lot for advertising, which made their CPL high.
- Tough Competition: The advertising spaces they needed to be in were super competitive, and that made it even more expensive to get leads.
- Budget Constraints: High CPLs meant they couldn’t get enough leads with their budget.
The results they saw working with MatchCraft:
Between January and June 2023, they ran 1,097 ad campaigns for 357 businesses. The data they collected showed that it cost them only $15 to get a lead through Bing, but $49 through Google. Realizing that Bing was cheaper and performed better, they focused most of their efforts on this cost-effective search engine.
With MatchCraft, their campaigns worked better, and advertising on Bing became a key part of their strategy to get leads without going over budget. In fact, 67% of their campaigns ran on Bing, showing just how well it worked in keeping their CPL low.
Read the full case study: Unlocking Cost-Effective Lead Generation Strategies with MatchCraft
Tips and Best Practices for Maximizing Advertising Results
Leverage Unique Audience Segments
Bing’s users are often quite different from those who use Google. For example, a study by Semrush revealed that while younger folks (aged 18 to 34) in the US tend to favor Google, older generations, including early millennials (aged 35 to 44), surprisingly prefer Bing.
(source: Semrush)
To make your clients’ ads work well on Bing, customize your ad content to match what your target audience likes. You can also use MatchCraft’s tools to help you fine-tune campaigns specifically for this group.
Become a Geotargeting Whiz
Take advantage of Bing Ads’ precise geotargeting capabilities. Whether you’re managing the campaign of a local business or an e-commerce giant, MatchCraft’s integration with Bing can help you strategically target specific regions for maximum impact.
Here are some of Bing’s most popular targeting features:
County Targeting
You can focus your ads on specific counties and areas within the United States.
Location Extensions
These help by displaying your store’s address, phone number, and directions right in your ads. People find this information useful, and it can increase the number of people who click on your ads by up to 33% (Microsoft).
ZIP Code Targeting
You can pick specific regions using ZIP codes. This works in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, and Australia. You can even see a map that shows exactly where you’re targeting.
Radius Targeting
Choose to advertise within a certain distance. For example, you can target people within 10 miles or 20 kilometers of your store. You have the flexibility to choose distances from 1 to 500 miles (or 1 to 800 km).
Intent or Interest Targeting
This lets you target people who are interested in specific places. For example, you can show ads to people in San Francisco looking for information about Seattle hotels, even if they don’t live in Seattle.
Increased Targeting Limit
Bing has increased the number of areas you can target. Now, you can include or exclude up to 10,000 locations for each campaign and ad group.
Map Control
The improved map control feature lets you see the shapes of the areas you’re targeting or excluding. You can also add or remove areas directly from the map.
Geographic Location Report
This report gives you details about the types of locations where your Bing Ads were shown. It helps you understand how well your location-based advertising is doing, whether it’s based on physical locations or places of interest.
Keyword Research and Optimization
Just like with Google, relevant keywords are key to success on Bing. Conduct thorough keyword research using the platforms’ tools, and fine-tune your approach with MatchCraft’s optimization features.
Here’s a summary of our favorite keyword research tips:
Focus on Quality Visitors
Instead of obsessing over higher traffic numbers, concentrate on attracting the right people to your clients’ websites. Ask yourself if they are a good fit for the business. Having lots of visitors doesn’t matter if they aren’t the right audience.
Use Common Sense
Take a close look at each keyword and decide if it’s truly valuable for your client’s business. For instance, if they run an ice cream shop, think logically about whether “strawberry sundae” is a relevant enough search term. Will customers find what they’re looking for on their website?
Analyze the Competition
Check what websites appear in search results for the keywords you’re interested in. If you notice many ads, it’s a sign that those keywords might be valuable.
Don’t Hesitate to Test
If your client is unsure about a search term, try running a small ad campaign. See if the traffic it brings converts into customers. If not, and you’ve had a reasonable number of clicks (like 300), it’s time to consider other options.
Consider Using Long-Tail Keywords
You might be surprised to hear that 70% of search queries fall into the long tail category. These are highly specific and detailed searches, such as “organic pumpkin spice ice cream Chicago.” They effectively sift out casual browsers and allow you to focus on reaching individuals who are poised to make a purchase.
So, how do long-tail keywords differ from their short-tail counterparts?
- Lower competition
- Better conversion rate
- Improved click-through rate
- More personal searches
- Increased connotation variety
Take a look at this graph that visualizes the comparison:
(source: Wix)
What are long-tail keywords?
Long-tail keywords are essentially longer and more detailed descriptive phrases, typically consisting of three words or more.
Here are examples of good long-tail keywords versus poor long-tail keywords for a coffee shop in Denver, Colorado:
Good Long Tail-Keywords:
- Best espresso coffee in Denver
- Organic coffee beans Denver
- Cozy coffee shops near downtown Denver
- Denver coffeehouse with free Wi-Fi
Poor Long-Tail Keywords:
- Coffee espresso Denver
- Coffee mocha shop
- Denver cafe shop
- Denver coffeehouse latte
Good long-tail keywords are like treasure maps. They’re very clear and help the coffee shop find customers who want certain things, like a special kind of coffee or a cozy place in the city. In contrast, poor long-tail keywords are too broad and generic, making it difficult to stand out in search results.
Cross-Platform Insights
Use MatchCraft’s reporting features to gain insights into the performance of your Bing Ads campaigns and discover how they compare to your efforts on other platforms. This data-driven approach will enable you to refine your strategies for even better results.
Related Topics:
The Power of Targeting: Maximizing Local Reach | MatchCraft
Navigate Bing MSAN Changes with MatchCraft: What to Expect | MatchCraft
Unleash Your Advertising Potential with MatchCraft
In a digital advertising landscape often dominated by a single giant, Bing Ads presents a golden opportunity to diversify your marketing efforts and tap into an alternative audience segment. Our MatchCraft-Bing partnership is a strategic collaboration that empowers campaign managers to harness the full potential of Bing for advertising.
By leveraging MatchCraft’s platform, you can navigate the intricacies of Bing Ads more easily than ever before, helping you craft impactful campaigns that drive results for your SMBs. As you venture beyond Google, remember that the dynamic duo of MatchCraft and Bing is here to expand your advertising horizons and help you reach new heights. Schedule your assessment with MatchCraft today!